Trump’s remarks at the rally touched on a wide range of issues
including racial tensions, media bias and immigration. He also hinted at
a potential pardon for former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, which
continued to draw sharp criticism on Wednesday.

Law enforcement had used tear gas and other crowd-disbursement
tactics after police said protesters threw tear gas, bottles and rocks
at officers, according to a statement from Stanton. He said Chief Jeri
Williams told him what spurred the clash.

“To avoid a potentially dangerous physical confrontation with these
disruptors, police used pepper spray – which had the unfortunate
consequence of affecting some of those nearby who were peaceful,”
according to Stanton’s statement. He also said he was “incredibly proud”
of those who protested peacefully.

On social media Wednesday, some members of the public expressed concerns that these innocent bystanders had become victims of police brutality.

The American Civil Liberties Union Wednesday called for an investigation into reports of excessive police force. They took to Twitter to “urge witnesses to submit testimony” for the investigation.

“We have received many complaints that people, including children and
people with mobility and respiratory issues, were taken by surprise
when the police bombarded them with chemical irritants, with no
warning,” an ACLU statement said. “The health risks associated with
deploying so-called ‘non lethal’ weapons cannot be understated. Tear gas
and pepper spray can have devastating health effects.”

Edward Maguire, a professor at Arizona State University’s School of
Criminology and Criminal Justice, took four Ph.D students with him to
the protests to observe the event.

“Much of the protest was handled well,” he said Wednesday. “I saw a
lot of officers exercising restraint. For the majority of the event,
they did fine. Where it fell apart was when they made the decision
prematurely to deploy pepper balls and tear gas.”

Maguire said some of his students saw protesters throwing water
bottles. However, he said the police should have done more to
communicate with the crowd first and focused the more heightened
response on people “engaged in violent and destructive activity while
allowing those who are engaged in peaceful protest to continue
exercising their First Amendment rights.”

Late Tuesday, Williams said at a news conference authorities arrested
two people on suspicion of aggravated assault on a police officer and
another person on suspicion of criminal damage.

Williams told reporters the response by police was appropriate “based
on the information that we received and based on the fact of the
charged and emotional nature of this.”

Officers applied different levels of force, including verbal commands
to disperse to those within earshot before police deployed tear gas,
Sgt. Jonathan Howard, a police spokesperson, said at the news
conference.

However, some witnesses disputed whether the police gave the crowd enough warning. One Twitter user
posted a video of the aftermath and commented: “Our attempt to remind
the police that it’s a peaceful protest, but they still gas us, etc. and
violate our rights.”

Phoenix City Council member Michael Nowakowski on Wednesday committed
to an investigation to “determine the sequence of events,” according to
a statement.

Meanwhile, local advocacy groups continued to express dismay at a
potential presidential pardon for former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe
Arpaio.

Trump alluded to a possible pardon at Tuesday night’s rally but CNN and other news outlets reported the White House had prepared paperwork for a pardon.

“Donald Trump continues to bring shame to the presidency by taunting
Americans with threats he may soon pardon our disgraced former sheriff,
Joe Arpaio, and shut down the government if he doesn’t get his way on
funding for his foolish border wall,” Petra Falcon, executive director
of Promise Arizona, an immigration and Latino advocacy group, said in a
statement Wednesday.

The National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials
released a statement last week addressing the potential pardon.

“A pardon for Arpaio would be an endorsement of racism from the
highest office in the land,” the statement said. “This kind of act would
be an extraordinary intervention in our justice system that could
threaten the public’s faith in law enforcement and the rule of law.”

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